Political career

Parliament

Swan was first elected as the Member for Lilley in the 1993 federal election, but was defeated three years later by Elizabeth Grace in what was a large defeat for Labor nationwide. In 1996, Swan donated $500–$1400 (amount disputed) to the Australian Democrats campaign manager in his seat of Lilley.[7] At the time, speculation surrounded the nature of the donation.[8][9] The matter was referred to the Australian Federal Police who chose to take no further action.[10][11] Following these events, he worked as an advisor to Labor Leader Kim Beazley.

Shadow cabinet

Swan contested Lilley again in the 1998 federal election, regaining his seat. Shortly after his return to Parliament, he was elected to the shadow cabinet. He was made Shadow Minister for Family and Community Services in 1998, and then Manager of Opposition Business in 2001. During the 2003 Labor leadership election he was a prominent supporter of Kim Beazley, but retained his position in the Shadow Cabinet when Mark Latham became the new Leader. After the 2004 federal election defeat, Swan was promoted to become Shadow Treasurer. This was seen by many as a surprise, as it was rumoured that Latham was intending to appoint then-Shadow Health Minister Julia Gillard to the position. It was believed that strong opposition from Labor's Right Faction had put Latham under pressure to appoint either Swan or Shadow Industrial Relations Minister Stephen Smith as Shadow Treasurer.[12]

Swan worked with Kim Beazley and Stephen Smith to devise Labor's response to the Howard Government's 2006 budget, with Labor proposing tax relief for low- and middle-income earners. Swan launched his book during the same month, Postcode: The Splintering of a Nation. In early November 2007, Swan and Labor Leader Kevin Rudd revisited Nambour State High School, their old school. Rudd gave a speech to students, in which he said that, at school, "Wayne was very, very cool; and I was very, very not."[13]

Treasurer of Australia

Following Labor's landslide win in the 2007 federal election, Swan was duly appointed Treasurer of Australia by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 3 December 2007 succeeding Peter Costello.[14]

Swan's first budget concentrated on inflationary pressures in the economy, with substantially reduced spending that exceeded the A$11 billion outlayed for tax cuts. The policy debate shifted around August 2008 after mortgage lending banks in the United States began to collapse and economic activity faltered as American investments were written off one after the other. In response to the resulting global downturn, Swan coordinated an "economic security strategy" worth $10 billion in October 2008. Designed as a stimulus package and directed towards retail sales, it was largely supported by the International Monetary Fund. When the December quarterly growth report showed the economy contracting, he moved ahead with the Nation Building and Jobs Plan to provide government-sponsored work worth A$42 billion.

Deputy Prime Minister

On 24 June 2010, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard challenged Kevin Rudd in a leadership election. Realising that he would be unable to win, Rudd resigned as leader and Prime Minister and Gillard was elected unopposed. Swan stood to fill the now vacant position of deputy leader of the Labor Party, also being elected unopposed, and he was subsequently sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister under Gillard. Days later, Swan attended the G-20 Toronto summit in Gillard's place.[15]

On 21 September 2011, Swan was named the World's Best Finance Minister by Euromoney magazine, joining Paul Keating as the only Australian treasurers to have been conferred the title.[16]

In an essay published in The Monthly magazine in March 2012[17] and a subsequent address to the National Press Club,[18] Swan criticised the rising influence of vested interests, in particular paying attention to mining entrepreneurs Clive Palmer, Gina Rinehart and Andrew Forrest, and how Swan believes they are threatening Australia's egalitarian social contract. In The Monthly essay he opined:

The latest example of this is the foray by Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, into Fairfax Media, reportedly in an attempt to wield greater influence on public opinion and further her commercial interests at a time when the overwhelming economic consensus is that it's critical to use the economic weight of the resources boom to strengthen the entire economy.

Politicians have a choice: between exploiting divisions by promoting fear and appealing to the sense of fairness and decency that is the foundation of our middle-class society; between standing up for workers and kneeling down at the feet of the Gina Rineharts and the Clive Palmers.

For every Andrew Forrest who wails about high company taxes and then admits to not paying any, there are a hundred Australian businesspeople who held on to their employees and worked with government to keep the doors of Australian business open during the GFC. Despite the howling of a small minority, the vast bulk of the resources industry is in the cart for more efficient profits-based resource taxation which serves to strengthen our entire economy. The vast majority of our miners accept that they have a social obligation to pay their fair share of tax on the resources Australians own.

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